Walgreens, NMPG develop coordinated healthcare program

By Michael Johnsen

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens and Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group of Chicago on Wednesday announced a new coordinated healthcare program in which Walgreens will share the results of appropriately timed pharmacist clinical interventions with primary care physicians of selected patients.

“This relationship is a great example of how healthcare organizations can work together to improve patient care while also benefitting our healthcare system at large,” Walgreens president of pharmacy, health and wellness Kermit Crawford said. “We’ve already seen cases that speak to the effectiveness of the program and further demonstrate the important role our expansive network of pharmacists can play in the future of healthcare delivery.”

The program is being implemented for Walgreens and Northwestern Memorial employees who have NMPG as their primary care provider and currently focuses on those with hypertension, diabetes, asthma and hyperlipidemia. Patients with these high-cost chronic disease states will receive point-of-care counseling or an intervention as part of the integrated services offered.

Information from interventions will be provided to each patient’s primary care physician, giving physicians access to important clinical information from Walgreens.

“This benefits those patients tremendously because now there’s a richer conversation with their primary doctor that is supported by the pharmacy documentation,” said Daniel Derman, president of NMPG and VP Northwestern Memorial. “It’s a more complete way of serving patients, and it’s particularly rewarding in this instance because those patients are also our employees.”

For each disease state, Walgreens pharmacists and NMPG physicians have collaboratively developed an intervention plan, with sessions comprised of a series of questions designed to maximize adherence and help patients best understand their disease.

“Many of our chronic disease patients tell us they see their pharmacist more often than they do their doctor,” Crawford said. “Giving physicians further insight into patient behaviors and working with them to spend more time talking with patients can help reduce healthcare costs and, more importantly, improve a patient’s overall health.”